At this point in the summer your get-togethers need a little more than the promise of free wine, half-pound grilled burgers and a good old fashioned game of horse shoes. We recently suggested a field day as a way to separate your party from the rest, and since then we have had way too many ideas about fun games for such a party to not share them.

Warning: these ideas are bold and insanely entertaining.

Dodge-Balloon
Two things everyone does in their adolescence are play dodgeball and throw water balloons. So it’s only natural in your adulthood to combine the two, right? Your field day teams will face off two at a time. Each gets a tub of water balloons and at the sound of “go,” start tossing. The team with last dry player wins. This is one of those games that everyone will enjoy and it’s a great way to cool off on a hot summer day.

Tumbleweed Volleyball
We all like playing volleyball, but there’s always that one person who played on the school team and loves to spike it down your throat. Well, not in this game. Fill up some regular party balloons with air, not helium. Place those in a large trash bag and then wrap the giant ball in duct tape. You now have your ball, or Tumbleweed, for this game. The odd shape makes every hit unpredictable and often hilarious. Use the same rules as regular volleyball.

Beach Ball Soccer
Yep, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. Apply FIFA rules as you see fit.

Wet & Wild Wiffle Ball
As you have probably guessed, this game is wiffle ball with a twist. First base is an inflatable wading pool and runners must jump in to be considered safe. Home plate is a slip n’ slide, and you must make it through to the end to be considered safe. You can use any type of wiffle ball bat, but we suggest a soft ball because instead of tagging, a fielder can throw the ball at a runner to attempt to get them out.

You can make this game even crazier by running the bases backwards, playing everything as fair (no foul balls), and not limiting how many people can be on a single base (no forced outs).

The Classics
If you’re doing a field day, don’t forget the games that made field day fun. You can’t go wrong with a three-legged race, sack races, tug-o-war, water balloon toss, or egg and spoon race. Having a variety of games will keep it interesting and give teams a true chance to win.
As with any competition, you must have prizes. If you’re teams are small enough, you can do a bottle of wine for each member of the winning team. They don’t have to be serious, though. Most party stores will have trophies for such events, and you can also find some nice booby-prizes for the team in last place. But with a set of game like this, everybody wins!”